


Your Face Against the Morning Sun

by gelbes_gilatier



Category: Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: Canon Het Relationship, Conversation, F/M, Fluff, Het, Mornings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-05
Updated: 2012-12-05
Packaged: 2017-11-20 10:06:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/584182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gelbes_gilatier/pseuds/gelbes_gilatier
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, Tony Stark wonders what Pepper Potts sees in him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Your Face Against the Morning Sun

**Author's Note:**

> [Holiday Fic Request Meme](http://gelbes-gilatier.livejournal.com/289880.html). This is for ancient_leah who had enough faith in me to think I can handle Tony Stark. I, err, hope I didn't disappoint her. Also, I just realized, this is my virgin fic in the Iron Man fandom. Be gentle, please? :S

**Your Face Against The Morning Sun **

_“And I wish I could lay down beside you_  
When the day is done  
And wake up to your face against the morning sun  
But like everything I've ever known  
I'm sure you'll go one day  
So I'll spend my whole life hiding my heart away  
And I can't spend my whole life hiding my heart away.”

_Adele, “Hiding My Heart”_

Sometimes, Tony Stark wonders what Pepper Potts sees in him. It’s not that people say he’s too old for her that has him worried occasionally – because even if he is, he’s still the most awesome motherfucker on the entire planet – and it’s not that she’s still so damn much independent that he fails to see why she would need anyone in her life despite herself.  

He’s also pretty sure that the fact that he’s wearing a metal suit now and then can’t be the reason why she stays at his side since he kissed her on that roof top. Even before, actually. But no, not the metal suit, either. Pepper is too smart to be impressed by that. So it begs the question… why _does_ she?

And, even more important than that: what happens when she _doesn’t_ see that in him anymore? Tony “Iron Man” Stark would never publicly admit that one of his worst fears is being alone, left by just another person he loves. And that he _does_ love Pepper is without question. He hasn’t told her yet and he’s probably never going to but that doesn’t mean it’s not there. She knows that anyway.

Doesn’t she?

Ah, that’s just crap, he usually thinks at that and rolls his eyes at himself. Thank God no one ever heard him utter trash like that. His reputation would be ruined and what is Tony Stark without his reputation of being fast, cynical and hedonistic?

Still one of the richest people on Earth and still Pepper Potts’ boyfriend, that’s what.

Being insecure is for losers, so the last thing he wants to do is lying in bed, staring at the ceiling and wondering why Pepper is still lying next to him. It still stands to reason, though, why she keeps doing that.

He once thought he might be going at this from the wrong angle. He thought maybe he needed to stop the sentimental bullshit and go at this scientifically. That had been a bad idea. Every time he tried to go scientifically about it, it had earned him weird looks from Pepper and one time, a hand on his forehead to check if he was feverish. Bad idea indeed.

So why, in God’s name, does she stay with him?

Well. If he’s honest, it’s not just sometimes that he wonders that. It’s practically all the time, ever since she kissed him back on that balcony. There’s no denying that all laws of nature point towards this being an anomaly of planetary dimensions and his scientist’s brain keeps being unable to compute why this is happening.

Of course, there are people that like to say that Tony Stark is an idiot, so the reason why Pepper Potts stays with him is either that she’s an idiot herself – usually, people regret saying that right after having said it – or that he’s the recipient of unprecedented amount of idiot’s luck. People regret saying that right having said it, too.

Still doesn’t solve his question. Still keeps him awake nights like these, nights with lingering heat and soft wind from the sea and oh shit, is that the sun coming up over that hill again? That’s what this whole sentimental crap gets him, every damn time. At least, if he spent the night with engineering and science, it wouldn’t be a wasted night but… _brooding_?

Stupid.

“You know, Tony, I think you have this all backwards.”

Huh.

Only Pepper can speak with her eyes closed and her mouth open just a delicate little bit and probably still mostly asleep. He turns from his back to his side, to bury his hand in her hair and pull her towards him just a little bit more. “How do I have what backwards, Ms. Potts?”

He can feel her smile against his neck and she makes that humming, drawn out noise that usually means pleasure. “The question isn’t why anyone’s staying. It’s why you would wonder about that.”

As bonmots go, Pepper’s are always just a little less asinine than others. This one. Well, this actually sounds almost logical. It makes sense. And it makes him feel like an idiot and just shows again why Stark Industries is really better off with Pepper Potts as their CEO. Like practically everything she says. This is ridiculous.

“Have I ever told you that I think you’re smarter than…”

“Just shut up, Mr. Stark, and let me sleep. _You_ don’t have to be in a meeting at eight oh clock today.” Right. Good point. Really good point.

He finds himself actually grinning at that and then burying himself deeper in Pepper’s night scent and considering trying her approach for a change. He’s not convinced yet that it makes more sense than anything he tried until now but then again, none of _that_ made sense, either. He smiles.

Sometimes, Tony Stark recognizes that other people know him better than he knows himself. Sometimes, he knows when to surrender. And it’s only Pepper that he ever surrenders to. So it doesn’t even surprise him that he feels himself drifting off finally, despite still having no answer to what Pepper Potts sees in him. Maybe, just maybe she is right, after all.

 


End file.
